Pages

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Characters

Writing.

Sometimes it just
works. Sometimes it doesn't.

I hadn't planned
on a writing vacation, but took a little time away from it. I didn't stop
thinking about writing. I had no interest in pursuing my story on the keyboard.
I've been regular with my composing. Not precisely everyday, but I've felt good
about the 15 or more hours I've put in per week.

The problem is a
friend pointed out a reality issue with my story and thrown it off kilter. Same
friend also had me thinking about characters and the best way to craft them.
I’ve put a lot of thought into my people during this writing hiatus.

Experts say, give
them a flaw, make them suffer, characters have to grow. And so on. How much
this applies to a light-hearted middle grade story I’m not sure? I know, I
know. That doesn't matter. The authorities laid out the format so the rules
apply to from PB to YA. Publishers and readers are looking for character.

The stories we
love have in your face characters, people stuck living in this world. People
with relationship problems, people with self-doubt, people on a mission. The
situations they are stuck with and the way they deal with them help us deal
with our own. People like us, except the authors removed the boring stuff.

Writing vacation
is about over. Time to take all this advice and put it into practice.